Cellphones: Better Than Your Spouse and/or Alcohol

Two new surveys on cellphone use show that Americans love their handsets, possibly to the detriment of their spouses and social lives.

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According to a survey of 645 U.S. women commissioned by shoe retailer Zappos.com and payment service Bill Me Later, 31% of respondents ranked their phone or PDA as “most important” in managing their work and home lives, ahead of their significant other and hired help.

One reason is that it helps them bridge professional and personal responsibilities. When asked how often they’re multi-tasking those roles, for example, helping kids with homework while fielding a co-worker’s calls, nearly a quarter (24%) said this happens daily.

Meanwhile, Best Buy’s wireless unit, Best Buy Mobile, commissioned a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults that furthers the phone-as-lifeline premise. About 60% said they’d rather drink no alcoholic beverages for a week than give up their cellphone for the same period of time (though 23% sent a text message while intoxicated).

The percentage of teetotalers was greater than those who said they’d give up TV (33%) or have their teeth drilled at the dentist (15%) rather than turn off their phones.

Best Buy’s study also included findings on text-messaging. More than half (51%) of respondents said they’d read texts while driving, and 34% had fired them off while behind the wheel. About a quarter looked at a spouse, partner or child’s text messages without that person’s permission (maybe one of those less-important significant others).

What say you? Are these findings out in left field, or do they confirm what you suspected all along?